Cheika still keen to retain Elsom

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika has not given up hope of keeping Rocky Elsom at Leinster for another 12 months even if, ironically enough, the iron man from Melbourne might feel there’s little point in staying now simply because it’s a case of mission accomplished.

The Australian Rugby Union want him back and despite what he said after Saturday’s game, Cheika faces a massive task in preventing that happening. Cheika brought him over and paid him a reported €400,000 for the 12-month contract, all with the idea of landing the team’s first Heineken Cup. His judgment was backed in spades by what he has done throughout the season but most especially in the three knockout matches against Harlequins, Munster and Leicester.

Wallabies officials are hoping he will re-sign with either NSW or Queensland after his duties with invitational side the Barbarians are completed in the next fortnight.

The 26-year-old is undecided on his future and remains ineligible for the Wallabies until signed to an Australian Super 14 side.

“If he doesn’t come back, that will obviously be a massive loss but we don’t give in easily,” Cheika admitted. “He’s a smart lad and he’ll look after himself. The one thing you know about Rocky is that he will always make the right decision. He’s a very smart operator and I’ve really enjoyed working with him this season.

“He’s been a massive player for us. He’s got a lot of respect among his teammates and he gives a lot back. I think he has enjoyed his football immensely and the results are there for everybody to see. He has added to our culture. That’s not something you make up. It’s a combination of the players that are in it. He has added a new dimension to it and I think he has improved his footy and shown clearly why the Australians want him back.”

Cheika also had a little piece of advice for the Lions management given that there was again a scare on Saturday concerning Brian O’Driscoll’s shoulder.

“I think they will need to look after him”, he stated. “It seems like he’s been going forever. He doesn’t need to train every day and do all that sort of stuff. He just needs to be primed for games. There was no way he was coming off. Even if I tried, I think I would have got the Ronaldo treatment so I wasn’t even thinking about it. He’s talismanic for us and I’m sure he will be down there, especially as the Lions will be going in as underdogs. He’d like that tag and cause a bit of trouble.”

The Australian influence at Murrayfield on Saturday and indeed throughout the season has been nothing short of enormous. Elsom was voted man of the match. Cheika was head coach, Alan Gaffney the backs coach and Chris Whitaker the scrum-half. A pretty potent mixture.

Leo Cullen admitted that Leinster rugby was “in a bit of disarray” four years ago when Cheika came on board and he certainly has turned things around.

“I wanted to put stability and a bit of structure in place,” Cheika explained. “I’d be saying the same thing if we lost and I’d like that to be clear. That’s what I’m there to do. What I found was a group of players who were eager and hungry to be successful. This instils more belief and also we get a lot more of a link with our crowd. They were unbelievable today. I was quite shocked to see the amount of blue. We saw it at Harlequins and at Croke Park and here again, when the games are very tight, the crowd is a factor.

“We believed in ourselves to come back. They got seven ahead of us and started cranking up their machine, counter-rucking and trying to dominate us and we were able to stay in there. The loss of Geordan Murphy was a big blow. He was playing well, giving them a second kicking option and that gave us more focus of how to shut down the opposition.”

One of the great success stories of the semi-final and final has been the 23 year-old, relatively inexperienced out-half Jonathan Sexton.

“He was the first generation coming out of the academy when I arrived here,” said Cheika. “It epitomises the club the way that fellow is coming through. There’s a lot of belief put in the players to come back when things go against you. He will have down days again after this and it’s a matter of him understanding what it takes to be a better player every time.”

While most of the focus has been on Leinster’s three outstanding knock-out performances, Cheika maintains there were other occasions that built the kind of stubborn attitude that proved so crucial on Saturday. And he also believes it might never have evolved had it not been for the oft maligned scrum-half Chris Whitaker.

“He has been an integral part of the culture that we want to build,” said Cheika. “Lots of humility, lots of hard work and an ability to bounce back from adversity. He was getting very heavily criticised. These things are like the flu, once one person starts, everyone gets it. Everyone wanted to get on his back and he really felt it. He really felt it.

“I can’t pay enough accolades to that player for the way he stood by himself and believed in himself. He is such a team player and that’s why he was up there raising the cup with Leo Cullen. Nobody in the team would begrudge him that because he is such a team player and that’s part of where we maybe have taken a step further.”